
COVNTRY 

UFEm^AeClTY 



Wiillilffrlfiff 



COUNTRY LIFE 
IN THE CITY 




California Capitol at Sacramento 



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COVNTRY 

U\^m%e CITY 




FARMING oTiihQ 
FRONT LAWN 
of CALIFORNIA'S 
CAPITOL 



WEST SACFLAMENTO 

CALIFO FLNIA 



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Copyright, 1913 

by }Arest Sacramento Company 

Sacramento 







Sutter's Fort, Sacramento 

Epitome 

IN THE latter part of 1839 a soldier of fortune, one 
time military officer under Charles X, bent on a seri- 
ous mission, rested at the point where the Sacra- 
mento and American rivers meet. The Sacramento 
flowed peacefully through its wonderful valley; the 
plains were bunch grass carpeted. Herds of antelope, deer 
and elk fed here and there upon nutritious wild forage. Far 
away toward the east rose blue mountains, their tips glis- 
tening where the snow crested them. Northward towered 
a mighty snow-capped peak. Across the Sacramento the 
tules grew, tall and rank. All manner of wild fowl, teal 
and spoonbill, gray geese and honkers, brants and curlews, 
hovered over the tules or fed in the marsh lands. Beyond 
the tules was a vast stretch of land, and again a row of 
somber hills. Clumps of trees grew beside the river. 

Here and there the vast expanse of prairie east- 
ward was broken with park-like oaks. The land appeared 
of wondrous fertility and the traveler hesitated. He 



TITr 












Freighting on the Sacramento River at West Sacramento 

sought a place where he might found a colony. The soldier 
of fortune was Captain John Augustus Sutter. The soil 
and setting appealed to him. He obtained a land grant 
from the Mexican Government. 

On his grant he built a block house, a tiny affair where 
the scattered settlers gathered for mutual defense from 
warring Indian tribes. The interior of the little fort rang 
with patriotic zeal, which was carried beyond with flash 
of fire and roar of cannon. On this fort was raised the sec- 
ond American flag to be raised in California, July 4, 1846. 

The big river had been named "Sacramento" by Cap- 
tain Moraga. The name signified the Sacrament. The 
settlement which sprang up about the block house was also 
christened Sacramento. Captain Sutter was the first agri- 
culturist in the valley. His first wheat-field was a portion 
of that land where a mighty city was to grow. He planted 
the first fruit trees and grape-vines and demonstrated the 
unsurpassed fertility of the soil. 




■■■Liir>. 



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The palatial Steamer "Fort Sutter" plying between West Sacramento and San Francisco 

Later gold was discovered in the blue hills and there 
came a horde of fortune seekers. 

Sacramento developed into a tov^^n, an outfitting point 
and trading center. 

Through land grants of prodigious generosity the fer- 
tile valley was taken up by a mere handful of ranchers. 
The rich ranges were pastured to herds of cattle. Then 
followed an era of grain farming. The ranches, many of 
them containing upwards of fifty thousand acres, became 
vast fields of wheat and barley. From the beginning these 
great ranches proved a set-back to progress. Their owners 
were loath to part with even a tenth of their holdings and 
yet were content to take but a tenth of the wealth they 
might have obtained from them. Unbroken, the ranches 
retarded the ultimate growth of population, kept away 
settlers, and prevented the land from giving up its poten- 
tial wealth. 

At length pressure became too great. The owners be- 




Nicolaus Building, 

Offices West Sacramento Company, 

Sacramento 



gan to dispose of parts of their holdings. Settlers, quick to 
grasp opportunity, flocked in and houses began to break 
the monotony of prairie. The empire of small landowners 
was begun. 

Rich as was the level prairie that stretched from the 
river to the Sierras, its fertility was to have a formidable 
rival, for the floods of a thousand generations had been 
washing rich sediment from the hills and depositing it in 
the lowlands. 

The tules gave first evidence of the fertility of this sedi- 
mentary deposit. They grew year after year, to die down 
at the end of each season adding a tangled, enriching veg- 
etable mold to the already rich soil. How long this endless 
succession of growth and decay had continued no one 
knows. The tule land invited speculation and investiga- 
tion. The investigators found an unusual condition. They 
found soil of unbelievable fertility, of superlative richness. 
The tules grew in marsh land ; to farm this meant reclama- 
tion. Capital became interested. Levees were built and 
the great work of reclamation began. The land was re- 
stored in immense tracts, some of ten thousand, some sixty 
thousand, some a hundred thousand acres. Valued at $25 




Overlooking a Portion of the 
Business Section 



Corner of Eighth and 
K Streets 



to $100 per acre unreclaimed, the land went to $500, $700 
and $1,000 per acre — prices justified by proportionately 
astounding returns. The soil is inexhaustible. Soil experts 
have pronounced it surpassing in fertility that of the Neth- 
erlands of Europe, or of the Nile Valley of Egypt. 

The country has a wonderful setting. It has beauty of 
situation, charm of climate, fertility of soil, wealth of 
water. Itisthe farmer's dream of the ideal. It is being 
transformed into an empire of gardens and orchards, 
owned by the most prosperous landowners in the world. 

During these years of farm land development, the city 
of Sacramento also grew. From a straggling river village 
it became the mining center in the great mining days. It 
became the central distributing point for the world's great- 
est valley. It became the State's capital and a city of 
recognized importance. 

Of necessity the city spread out over the plains east- 
ward and southward, following the lines of least resistance. 
The land beyond the river was not yet reclaimed. No 
bridges spanned the river. Then a transcontinental rail- 
road, seeking a short route from San Francisco to the 
capital, crossed over the Sacramento. 



Sacramento's Magnificent 
New Courthouse 













Passenger Station of 

The Western Pacific Railway 



Now this land has been reclaimed. Splendid bridges 
span the river, other railroads have crossed, and soon a 
Dominion of Small Farms will make green the tule lands 
in the shadow of the capitol. 

Sacramento— Capital of California 

Sacramento is growing at a wonderful rate. 

It is the fourth largest city in California. Its population 
in 1890 was 26,386; in 1900 the census showed that it had 
jumped to 29,282; in 1910 it had reached 44,696. The pres- 
ent population as nearly as can be estimated is 80,000. It is 
the central distributing point for the entire Sacramento 
Valley, a part of the San Joaquin Valley and Nevada. 
The city covers an area of approximately sixteen square 
miles. 

It is a jobbing and retail center, fifth in the State in 
bank clearings. The bank clearings for 1908 were 



$250,000 High School, 
Sacramento 




$44,883,128.11; in 1909, $54,512,723.22; in 1910, $70,870,- 
997.13; in 1911, $78,376,700.21; in 1912, $92,747,060.69. 

Real estate values have doubled in the past three years. 
Whole residential districts have been built up within 
twelve months. Farm and truck gardens have developed 
into boulevarded home sites. Tall buildings are shadowing 
the streets. In value of building permits Sacramento is 
third in northern California and fifth in the entire State. 
In 1906 the building permits aggregated $994,811.50; in 
1910, $2,326,606.00; in 1912, $2,793,544.83. 

Here are located the shops of the Southern Pacific and 
Western Pacific railroads, giving employment to over five 
thousand workingmen. 

Sacramento has twenty-one school buildings and the 
school population is almost seven thousand. It has modern 
stores and theatres, seventy-four miles of asphalt and 
macadamized streets, an art gallery with a collection of 
treasures valued at $750,000. It has two libraries with up- 




Sacramento's Parks 
Show Many Interesting Vistas 
All Are Conveniently Situated 



wards of 200,000 volumes. There are eleven hotels, one of 
v^hich cost half a million dollars. 

All denominations of Christianity are represented with 
splendid churches. The Roman Catholic Church and the 
American Episcopal Church maintain their Bishop and 
other Chief Ministers at Sacramento, which is the center 
of operations for these great and well organized institu- 
tions of the Christian spirit. 

Within the city limits is located the eighty-acre tract 
of the State Agricultural Society where is held the annual 
State Fair. 

The city of Sacramento is just across the river from 
West Sacramento. Five bridges will soon connect the 
capital with the model Suburban Home and Garden dis- 
trict — West Sacramento. 




Picturesque Scenes in the 

Public Parks of California's Capital 

Fifteen Minutes from West Sacramento 



West Sacramento 

"Farming on the Front Lawn of California's Capitol." 
West Sacramento spreads out fan-like west and south 
from the "M" Street bridge. Stand in the center of this 
bridge and you may obtain a magnificent bird's-eye view 
of the beautiful tract. This bridge forms the eastern ap- 
proach to the main artery for the Garden Farms district. 
West Sacramento embraces 11,500 acres. Its eastern 
boundary is the Sacramento River and it has eight and 
one-third miles of river frontage. Across the river may be 
seen the sky-line of the fast growing metropolis. The 
glistening dome of the State Capitol looms from its setting 
of green. The smoke from the shops and factories arises 
between the river and the distant blue hills. River boats, 




Several of Sacramento's Banking Institutions 



laden with foodstuffs and freight, move up and down the 
Sacramento River. Heavily laden steam trains creep 
across the bridges. Fast interurban trains dart in and out 
with busy passengers. 

Two modern steel bridges now connect the capital and 
West Sacramento. The property is reached in less than 
five minutes by electric or steam train and ten minutes on 
foot carries one from West Sacramento into the heart of 
the business section of the capital. Four electric inter- 
urban railway lines will eventually pass through the prop- 
erty; one is already in operation, two are under construe- 




Representative Types of Business Blocks at Sacramento 



tion and will be completed this summer, and the other has 
just been surveyed. These lines are the Sacramento and 
Woodland, the West Side, the Oakland, Antioch and 
Eastern and the Vallejo and Northern. The main line 
double-track systems of the Southern Pacific, from the 
north, west and south, cross the property and the company 
will soon erect a freight and passenger station in the new 
district. Overland trains for the Northwest and for Omaha 
and Eastern points, and fast refrigerator express trains 
for Middle West and Atlantic States' distributing centers 
pass through West Sacramento on regular schedule. 




A Few of Sacramento's Leading Hotels 



The interurban electric railways reach out in all direc- 
tions, connecting the rich agricultural country with the 
towns and cities. The service is such that West Sacra- 
mento is nearer the business center of the capital city than 
are its own limits eastward. The farthermost point in 
West Sacramento is but fifteen minutes from the whole- 
sale district of Sacramento. The eastern and southern 
city limits of the capital are forty-five minutes distant. 

A splendid boulevard system of re-enforced concrete 
highways 100 feet in width, more than twenty miles in 
length, delightfully shaded with American elms, and cost- 
ing fifteen thousand dollars per mile, will give access to 
every portion of West Sacramento. In addition to this 
main boulevard system, the property will be criss-crossed 
with fifty miles of macadamized roads, affording the best 




America's Leading Theatrical 
Attractions Appear Regularly at 
Sacramento in Modern 
Fireproof Theatres 



Homes of the 

B. P. O. E. and the 

Women's Tuesday Club 




of traffic arrangements and giving every separate tract an 
outlet and frontage. 

In the center of the tract is beautiful Lake Washington, 
three miles long and averaging one-quarter of a mile in 
width. 

Already five millions of dollars have been expended 
during the three years of development of West Sacra- 
mento. Many millions more are yet to be spent before the 
plans are completed. 

West Sacramento Farms 

West Sacramento Farms is purely a suburban garden 
and home district. It is owned by a syndicate of men who 
represent the pioneer spirit and who have long been identi- 




All Denominations Are Represented with Modern Churches 

fied with the development and growth of the State. The 
Company has unHmited capital at its command. Its plans 
are comprehensive. They include a model empire of gar- 
den homes and a city which will embrace every modern 
idea of ideal environment, comfort and beauty. The entire 
tract has been laid out along lines conducive to right living, 
to proper development, to individual advantage of every 
home owner and to the cumulative advantage of the com- 
munity as a whole. 




A Residence Street Arched 

with Stately Elms 



An Unique Vine Growth 
in the Residence Section 




The soil of the tract is rich sediment ; a river silt built 
up with a mixture of rich humus, moist and retentive. It 
is mostly virgin and thoroughly sub-irrigated. It is ideally 
drained by a splendid canal crossing the entire property 
from northeast to southwest. Tule soil is the best land 
known for vegetable gardening and fruit growing. Be- 
cause of the character of its soil, West Sacramento Farms 
presents the safest and surest land for intensified farming 
in California. To make ready the virgin soil for immediate 
farming, the West Sacramento Company imported giant 
steam-plows and with them turned over every foot of the 
entire tract. Where the tule growth was heaviest the 
ground was plowed to a depth of twelve to fourteen inches ; 
in other parts it was plowed to a depth of three feet. Then 
the ground was harrowed from end to end and made ready 
for planting. The soil was found to be of unusual richness. 
Soil experts declare that it is particularly adapted to the 
growing of celery, hops, onions, asparagus, tomatoes, pea- 
nuts, cabbages, potatoes, artichokes, beans, melons, alfalfa, 
sugar beets ; to pears, figs, plums, cherries ; to strawberries, 
loganberries, blackberries and raspberries. 

Portions of the tract were leased during the three years 
of development and wonderful crops were taken from the 



^AK.FDANCISCO 



SAUSAL(TO 

SA.N RAFAEL 
TjBURON / SAKJTA POSA, 




PANORAMIC VIEW 

OF WEST SACRAMENTO 

SHOWING ITS 

PROXIMITY TO THE MARKETS 

OF SACRAMENTO AND 

SAN FRANCISCO 





A View of the Capitol Grounds, Five Minutes from West Sacramento 



tracts farmed. One lessee cleared $200 per acre from to- 
matoes. Six crops of alfalfa, rich and sweet, were taken 
in a single season from different sections, grown without 
irrigation. A Bartlett pear orchard on the tract netted 
$500 per acre. These indicate the possibilities of the land. 

A soil expert was engaged and an analysis made of 
every ten-acre tract in West Sacramento Farms to a depth 
of six feet. Every purchaser will be given an analysis of 
the soil of his particular tract, and advised as to what it 
is best adapted. In addition to this, a $10,000 agricultural 
laboratory is being constructed ; it is centrally located, and 
in charge of Mr. Caesar Bigler, a recognized expert agri- 
culturist. This laboratory will be at the service of every 
settler, without charge. Expert advice may thus be ob- 
tained at all times. 

An additional and unique feature of West Sacramento 
Farms is the great Free Market and Market Plaza, set 
aside in an advantageous location, easily accessible by land 
and water. This free market will be controlled by a com- 
mission selected by the home owners. Its affairs will be 



Sections of the 

Re-enforced Concrete Boulevards 

at West Sacramento 




Twenty Miles of These 
Splendid Boulevards Within the 
Confines of West 
Sacramento 



protected in such manner that no public or private cor- 
poration will ever be able to gain control of its approaches 
or influence its government. 

Electric light and power service has been carried 
throughout the entire tract. Power and light will be fur- 
nished at low cost. 

It is the aim and desire of the West Sacramento Com- 
pany to make West Sacramento Farms as nearly ideal as 
the incorporation of modern ideas will permit. Architects 
who studied both abroad and at home the model com- 
munities and country home districts have charge of this 
work. The best has been culled from the years of planning 
and success of others. Absolutely no detail has been over- 
looked that will tend toward making a model district. Each 
settler will be assured a condition of healthfulness and 
uniform living conditions not to be found elsewhere. San- 
itary and building restrictions will be enforced by a com- 
mission of men competent to pass upon building plans, 
fences, outbuildings, sewerage and other essentials, so 



Baby and Calves 
in Alfalfa Patch 




that the whole development may work to a harmonious 
result, with neatness, sanitation and good taste uppermost. 
The future of West Sacramento Farms is assured. It 
will be the most beautiful, the most productive, the most 
satisfying home-life section to be found in the whole 
world. 



The Market Place of a Million People 

A garden in the richest soil would be valueless without 
a market. Food products must be raised near the point of 
consumption or be in easy reach of such point. 

West Sacramento is at the very threshold of one of the 
world's greatest markets. 

Just across the river is the city of Sacramento with its 
eighty thousand people. It is a market worthy of con- 
sideration even should not greater markets be available. 
But westward ninety miles is San Francisco Bay and its 
million! 




Cabbages — One of the Best Products of West Sacramento 

San Francisco is one of the world's best markets. Its 
people know and demand the best things in life. Its res- 
taurants and hotels are the finest west of New York City. 
Its people are epicures. 

Across the Bay from San Francisco are Oakland, Ala- 
meda, Berkeley, Richmond, Sausalito, with a combined 
population equaling that of the metropolis of the Golden 
Gate. A million people who must eat! A million people 
who demand the best that orchard and farm and garden 
produce! 

Consider for a moment the future. Where is there a 
city of the ambition, the progressive spirit of San Fran- 
cisco! What other city in the country could raise $50,000,- 
000 for an international exposition within three years after 
it had been devastated by fire! What other city could 
make, would make such comprehensive plans for the en- 
tertainment of untold thousands as San Francisco is mak- 
ing for her Panama-Pacific International Exposition vis- 




Onions Are An Important Product of West Sacramento 



itors in 1915! It is a manifestation of the spirit that 
pervades the West. California expects, and rightly, a new 
commercial birth as the result of the Panama Canal. The 
spirit that is making for the success of the exposition is the 
spirit that will make California grow — the spirit that will 
not only populate the greatest State in the Union, but add 
to the world's wealth by increased production from the 
richest of the world's land area. 

This market of a million people is but three hours dis- 
tant by steam and six hours by boat from West Sacra- 
mento. Points of production and consumption are con- 
nected by the finest competitive systems of steam and 
electric railways and by fast river boats. 

In addition to this market of a million people there are 
the Eastern markets constantly demanding the early fresh 
fruits and vegetables from California. Fast refrigerator 
express cars carry the products to Chicago and to New 
York. Was there ever such a market! 




The First Crop Year Showed a Yield of Forty Sacks of Beans to the Acre 



West Sacramento— the City 

A city at West Sacramento is inevitable. 

The growth of the capital city has demonstrated that 
a metropolis is to build at this point on the Sacramento 
River. Conditions heretofore have precluded expansion 
westward, but the time is at hand when homes and busi- 
ness houses and factories must arise on the other side of 
the river. Distance is already working a hardship on fur- 
ther extensions of the city limits eastward and southward. 
The growth must once more follow the line of least resist- 
ance. This time it is westward. 

But the city of West Sacramento will arise under con- 
ditions far different from those of the average city. It 
must grow as the ideal, not haphazardly. 

The evolution of every great city has been fraught 
with serious problems. History has shown that the things 
conducive to right living and pleasant living are lost sight 




A Mammoth Live Oak in West Sacramento Alfalfa Field 



of in the hurly burly of ordinary development, until a re- 
arrangement becomes necessary; the changed conditions 
are then not brought about except with great expense and 
severe hardship. 

The West Sacramento Company has looked into the 
future. It has planned big and it proposes to carry its 
plans to successful conclusion. It has worked not from 
idealistic plans alone, but it has sent forth trained men 
to observe and to bring back the best in municipal develop- 
ment and government. 

Here is a city in the making, an opportunity to plan 
absolutely for the future. 

We shall not give out all our plans for the present. 
But we will indicate some of the features that have been 
incorporated in our scheme of development. 

The tenements and crowded home sections of our big 
cities are the result of unfortunate conditions. Expan- 
sion was necessarily upward, for men must live near their 




Fields of Golden Corn Stretch Off for Miles 



work and transportation facilities were bad. Before the 
present modes of fast transportation were evolved it was 
impossible to live far from the shop or factory. Now 
fast trains carry us cheaply and workers are eagerly seek- 
ing those districts where they may have space to breathe, 
a green lawn and flowers, a garden plot and shade trees. 
The worker has a right to a home where convenience and 
beauty, however simple, are obtainable. He has a right 
to demand conditions that make life worth while. He 
will welcome those districts where his welfare is the com- 
munity's welfare, where he is a part of its social life. 

It is upon this theory that the West Sacramento Com- 
pany has laid out this town site. 

The city of West Sacramento will lie east of the agri- 
cultural district, facing Sacramento and in sight of the 
capitol building. It is separated from West Sacramento 
Farms by beautiful Lake Washington. This lake is near- 
ly three miles long and a quarter mile wide. Excellent 





Si-^ -h ----.c^ »~-i? 



West Sacramento is the Center of the Largest Wheat Growing District in California 



fishing and sail boating are among the delightful pleasures 
it affords. Around it will be built a concrete, hundred- 
foot wide boulevard, parked as are the boulevards of Paris. 
On one side of the lake are villa sites, where will arise the 
homes of the more expensive type, homes costing ten 
thousand dollars and more. Already some of these sites 
have been selected by owners who are preparing to build. 

The circular boulevard scheme of Paris and the diago- 
nal scheme of Washington, D. C, have been drawn upon 
for the laying out of this town site. This combination of 
schemes gives a complete system of radial boulevards and 
traffic arteries, all leading to a central plaza, with con- 
venient cross-town thoroughfares intersecting the whole 
general system of main boulevards and main arteries. 

Architectural vistas have been kept in mind. The 
streets have been so planned that eventually when the 
great city will have arisen, not a street but will lead to 
some point of interest or of general utility. 




Growing Corn at West Sacramento 



An Abundant Hop Growth 



Five bridges will span the river, and from the ap- 
proaches to these bridges will radiate these main arteries 
of traffic. 

An art commission will have power of approval of all 
buildings, of the location of factory districts, business sec- 
tions, public buildings and homes. The object of this com- 
mission is to create an absolutely harmonious city. Build- 
ings proposed must conform in character to those already 
erected in a given locality, and to a standard established 
by the commission. This does not mean that the banker 
must build a small bungalow, or that the man of small 
means must erect a palace. It does not mean the stifling 
of individuality or individual taste. It means only that 
each home owner will be shown how to build a house of 
higher type, of greater beauty than the average home and 
at less cost. 

The streets in the residential districts will be laid out 
in such manner that their roadbeds will be of ample width 
to care for the traffic originating in such a district and 




Hops Attain a Wonderful Growth in this Section 



yet not to invite through traffic. This will mean safety for 
the children in the residence streets. There will be a good 
sidewalk and ample parking in front of each home. 

Around each home there will be breathing space, a lawn 
and a yard. 

The art commission will be at the service of every 
owner in the matter of landscape gardening and in the 
control of fencing and outbuildings. 

Public buildings, library, offices for the administration 
of municipal affairs, art museum and other community 
buildings will be grouped in the civic center, from which 
will radiate the business districts, the theatre districts and 
hotel districts. School buildings will be arranged by dis- 
tricts in such manner that no child will be compelled to 
walk more than a few blocks. 

At one end of Lake Washington will be a public park ; 
it covers nearly 200 acres, considerable of which was al- 
ready studded with beautiful shrubs and shade trees, and 




Strawberries Show a Handsome Profit at West Sacramento 



more of these, in great variety, have been added. Artistic 
landscape effects are being planned. It is intended to ideal- 
ize this spot; to give it an atmosphere of rest, peace and 
contentment ; to make it a show place of comfort, a Garden 
of Eden of which all will be proud. 

The entire aim is to provide in advance against the 
drawbacks and the shortcomings of the ordinary growing 
city, to outline a plan for the complete and harmonious 
development of an ideal city and to conform to such plan 
consistently. 

There is no attempt to found an Utopia. The inevi- 
table city west of the river has been placed in the hands of 
those who propose to give their time and their money 
and their energy to make it a commonsense city, incor- 
porating as nearly as possible the successes of the greatest 
cities of the world and profiting by the mistakes of most of 
our American cities. 

It has been proved that home builders are willing and 




Olive Trees Bear Profitably in this Vicinity 



anxious to take advantage of districts where building re- 
strictions are assured and certain harmonious improve- 
ments have been provided before a home was erected. It 
has been noted that in such districts pride in home develop- 
ment is marked. 

The West Sacramento Company believes that the peo- 
ple will welcome a still further development of this idea 
in the careful planning of a complete, modern, model city. 

Engineers are now at work perfecting all the plans for 
the town site. Plats and prices will be ready at an early 
date. Those desiring an early selection should send in 
their names now as a great demand for lots in the model 
city on the opening date of sale is anticipated. 

Would You Pass Up the Opportunity? 

We believe that you are interested in this property. 
We believe that you are quick to recognize what a splendid 




$500 an Acre Was Cleared in this Bartlett Pear Orchard at West Sacramento 



opening we have provided for the man who desires to get 
back to the soil, to live in the country under most favor- 
able circumstances ; to be near enough the city to enjoy the 
benefits of its social life ; to have the best of transportation 
facilities, the best of markets, the best of ideal surround- 
ings. Here is the opportunity to live on your own garden 
plot under most favorable conditions. Does it appeal to 
you? Wouldn't you think it wise to provide such an ideal 
home for your wife and your children? Could you pos- 
sibly ask for more than West Sacramento will give? Five 
acres will provide a comfortable income. In asparagus 
it will bring in $1,250; in berries from $1,000 to $2,000; in 
cherries from $800 to $1,500; in pears from $800 to $2,500. 
These are but a few of the possibilities. 

The West Sacramento Company is now offering for 
sale tracts ranging from five to forty acres in West Sac- 
ramento. We will gladly quote prices and terms of sale 
on request. The prices which we have placed on this 




Looking Down an Avenue of Peach Trees 

property are unusually low for land of even less fertility 
and a less advantageous location. Terms of purchase are 
most liberal considering the very large amount of money 
invested in the project. Prices are not given in detail here 
as they are subject to immediate change — while direct quo- 
tations will be held open for a reasonable length of time. 
We want you to talk it over with us. Tell us your 
desires, your ambitions, your ideals. We'll work with you. 
We'll show you what can be done here. We suggest that 
you read the soil report of West Sacramento given on the 
following pages. It will help you. 



Soil Report of West Sacramento 

By Mr. Caesar Bigler, Agricultural Expert 

The West Sacramento soil forms part of the best type found in 
the world. It is derived from material carried in suspension by the 
flood waters of the Sacramento River and its tributaries. The tex- 




Packing Pears at the Reed Orchard at West Sacramento 

ture of this soil is a sand and mild clay loam, with a rich dark color, 
and contains from 5 per cent to 6 per cent of humus. 

The sub-soil of this type consists of a darker loam, high in lime 
content, probably derived to a great extent from materials eroded 
from the higher plain soils. 

The petrographic analysis of this top soil is as follows: 

Per Cent 

Zeolithes and soluble matter 18.013 

Volatile matter 4.000 

Kaoline 37.821 

Orthoklas 2.422 

Albit 1.528 

Anorthit 1.528 

Mica 0.406 

Quartz 30.980 

Total 100.000 

This analysis shows that this soil is built up by the lavas, the 
shale rocks and granites of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and not 
alone from the volcanic rocks of the foothills. 

The total amount of principal plant nourishments contained in 
the top soil of this type are: 



Per Cent 

Nitrogen (N) 0.317 

Phosphoric acid (P' O') 0,257 

Potash (K- O) 1.496 

Lime (Ca O) 0.571 

Dr. Clark, of the United States Geological Survey, has made 
some 2000 analyses from soils all over the world, and reached the 
conclusion that the average of the earth's crust contains 2200 lbs. 
of phosphorus, and 50,000 lbs. of the element potassium in two 
million lbs. of soil. 

The West Sacramento soil contains 2244 lbs. of phosphorus and 
25,000 lbs. of potassium per two millions of soil. While our soil is 
below the average in potassium it is above the average for phos- 
phorus, which is of the utmost importance and will assure a great 
fertility to this soil. Most of the California soils contain only 700 
to 900 lbs. of phosphorus per two million lbs. of soil. 

Besides this there is a total of 24,000 to 35,000 lbs. of humus 
per acre foot. This is almost ten times as much as 95 per cent of 
California soils contain. 

Humus is one of the most important ingredients in an arable 
soil, keeping it from crusting and binding and making it easily 
tillable ; humus further checks evaporation, owing to the capacity 
of humus bodies to retain water. Such a soil does not dry out fast, 
and is, therefore, less subject to drought and surface shrinkage. 
Humus is further the chief depository of nitrogen and a chief source 
of nitrogen supply for plants. A correlation between the nitrogen 
content and humus content of this soil type is well marked by the 
extremely high content of nitrogen found in our analysis. 

The above analytical data indicate a very rich soil of easy 
tillage, and one which makes a good general purpose soil. 



Enclosed is a card for convenience. Fill it out. Send it along. 
We will be only too glad to answer your questions, and if 
possible meet you and show you our property. ::::::::: 

West Sacramento Company 

Nicolaus Building Kearny &' Pine Sts. 

Sacramento San Francisco 



In presenting this book to the public, 
the West Sacramento Company has 
been careful that no exaggeration or 
over-statement of facts should be 
made. West Sacramento is such an 
unusual project and of such a high 
character, that it seems impossible 
to over-estimate its importance. 
"Country Life in the City'' is only a 
conservative story of the facts as they 
are proposed or exist, and in every 
instance I believe the statements 
made herein to be absolutely true. 



.Af^. 




General Manager. 



"Country Liife in the City" 

Issued by 

Land Sales Department 

West Sacramento Company 

Written by Byron Kilgour, Manager 

Publicity Department West Sacramento Company 

Designed by the Booklet Department of the 

Cooper Advertising Company 

Printed , by Taylor, Nash &' Taylor 

San Prancisco 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



017 139 834 4' 




